Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) on Tuesday stressed that what the residents of Maui need most in the wake of this month’s catastrophic wildfires are federal resources and bipartisan support, not political attacks and scapegoating.

Maui is neither a “political talking point” nor some “new thing for the internet to argue about,” he told HuffPost.

Schatz has been on the ground in historic Lahaina town in recent days and said the devastation from the infernos — the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century — continues to grow.

“The damage to this community — physical, economic, emotional — is still being tallied,” he said. “We need to get kids back in school. We need to reestablish a health center. We need to rebuild water infrastructure. And we’ve got a long, long way to go.”

The death toll from the blazes currently stands at 115. Another 388 people were still unaccounted for as of last week, although as many as 100 on the missing persons list have reportedly come forward to say they are safe. The fires destroyed some 2,220 buildings, and the estimated damage ranges from $4 billion to $10 billion.

Schatz is working on a supplemental appropriations bill to secure additional resources for the lengthy recovery ahead. Schatz refrained from estimating exactly how much that could cost; he said “it is safe to say that we are going to need billions of dollars from the federal government in order to make this work.”

On Monday, a bipartisan congressional delegation from the House Natural Resources committee toured what little remains of fire-ravaged Lahaina, on Maui’s western coast, and met with survivors and responders. But as is the case with so many other disasters, this one has not escaped partisan mudslinging.

Republicans have condemned President Joe Biden’s response at every turn, from his “no comment” to a reporter when asked about the rising death toll — the White House has since said he never heard the question — to the Federal Emergency Management Agency issuing one-time $700 checks to affected households for immediate needs such as food and water. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who left the Democratic party in 2022 after a yearslong shift to the political right, called the checks “almost a slap in the face.”

Schatz said criticism over the $700 checks is nothing more than a talking point that ignores the scale of the federal government’s efforts on the ground. To date, the White House says it has distributed $12 million in assistance to over 3,300 households and deployed more than 1,000 federal workers to aid in the response.

“I’m not going to spend my time trying to run interference on some…” Schatz paused. “Maui is not a political talking point. Lahaina is not a new thing for the internet to argue about. It is a community that has been flattened, and it needs our support on a bipartisan basis.”

“The people on the ground that are doing the work — the search and rescue teams, the Red Cross, the social workers, the pharmacists, the fire department personnel, many of whom lost their own homes while they were fighting the fire — those people represent the best of Maui,” he added. “And those people are not trying to make some kind of point on social media. They’re just doing the work and trying to provide as much help as they can.”

During the first GOP presidential debate last week, the Maui fires came up as part of a broader question about whether the candidates believe in human-caused climate change. What followed was a wild spectacle of punting and outright climate denial. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used the question as an opportunity to accuse the “corporate media” of turning a blind eye to what he views as Biden’s failure to appropriately respond to the Maui fires.

Asked about Republicans’ responses at the debate, Schatz said it is vital that leaders rally around the needs of Maui residents.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that climate change is making natural disasters more frequent or more severe. No serious person doubts that,” he said. “But I will say it is really important for Maui that we maintain our discipline of focusing on the people who actually need our help, and not turning this into a new thing that we all argue with each other over.”

“Right now, our fellow Americans need us to act like grown-ups and set our ideological differences aside and provide some relief,” he added.

Schatz also warned against finger-pointing until local and federal investigations into what led to the deadly disaster run their course.

“There are now multiple independent investigations that are underway, and I think those are really important,” he said. “I think it’s also important that politicians don’t weigh in before the investigation has really started in earnest. We need to be clear-eyed about what went wrong, who, if anyone, made a bad decision. But every day I’m on Maui, I realize people urgently need our help.”

“There’s a time and a place and a process for accountability, but if finding a scapegoat prevents us from delivering the help that people need in the meantime, you can count me out.”

The GOP-led House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Tuesday launched an investigation into the federal government’s response to the Maui wildfires, Honolulu Civil Beat reported.

“The response by federal, state, and local officials to the catastrophic wildfire in Maui raises serious questions and Americans, especially those impacted by this tragedy, deserve answers,” Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the committee’s chairman, said in a statement to Civil Beat. “As recovery efforts continue, the House Oversight Committee has a responsibility to ensure taxpayer dollars are being used efficiently and effectively.”